Bad news on two pitching prospects

Brandon Leibrandt will be lost for the rest of the 2018 season and may require Tommy John surgery that would force him out for most or all of 2019. (Photo by Cheryl Pursell)

Tom Housenick of The Morning Call is reporting that the season may be over for two of the Phillies pitching prospects. Ben Lively last pitched for Lehigh Valley on June 20th when he went 6 2/3 innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before winding up on the DL with a right shoulder injury. Reliever Brandon Leibrandt, who opened eyes with an IronPigs franchise record 22 scoreless innings to start the season, last pitched on June 30th at Rochester and is out with a sore elbow.

While there weren’t any specifics on the injury suffered by Lively, Housenick mentions the fact that Leibrandt could require Tommy John surgery which would likely cost him all of next season as well. Unfortunately, Leibrandt is no stranger to missing big chunks of time after he underwent labrum surgery that kept him out for most of the 2015 season.

Ben Lively pitches against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on September 29, 2017. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The 25-year old made 14 relief appearances and six spot starts for Lehigh Valley this season and was 4-1 with a 1.42 ERA. Opponents were batting just .192 against him this season. The Phillies had drafted Leibrandt in the sixth round of the 2014 Draft out of Florida State. In five minor league seasons, he’s gone 29-15 with a 2.88 ERA and has pitched 400 innings.

Lively, 26, is 2-2 with a 2.44 ERA in eight starts this season for Lehigh Valley. He opened the season on the Phillies 25-man roster and made five starts before being optioned out after pitching to an 0-2 record and a 6.85 ERA. He averaged less than five innings per start in the majors this season. Overall, Lively is 4-9 and has a major league career ERA of 4.81 in 20 starts with the Phillies.